Hybrid Vehicle Maintenance, Repair and Concerns

Comments

Hi - not sure if this question belongs here but I didn't get any responses under Nav.

I have a 2010 and my nav map shows icons for gas stations, restaurants, etc. I don't want these icons to show up but am having trouble removing them permanantly. Can anyone help with the instructions to do this?

Judging by the relatively low number of comments in this discussion, one could conclude that hybrids are quite reliable. Of course, the majority of hybrids are Priuses, but there haven't been a lot of complaints or concerns expressed about the other hybrids, either.

My problem is not so much with the Honda Hybrid, but with the Honda dealership. They nickel and dime (more accurately, hundreds and two hundreds) me to death until it's plain that keeping the car is more expensive than buying it.

For instance, the oil shield under the oil filter was ripped off by a crummy dirt road. The Honda dealer wanted $130 to put on a new one, a piece of $5 or $10 material bolted to the underbody, and they refused to tack on the old one, which could easily be done with plastic ties--you know, like give a little service to a long-standing customer.

That's just one example. I have many others and I will never buy a Honda again.

I bought my daughter a 2008 Escape Hybrid in December 2007. Fantastic vehicle for the first 3 years/50K miles...Then In January, 2011, she made a stop on the way home, got back into the escape, and when started, it revved to 2500 RPM. She turned it off, and on the re-start it revved to 3500 RPM. She went ahead and started driving & the RPM's came back down, but this has been an issue ever since. Now it will only travel about 1/2 half mile in Electric Mode before the engine kicks on. Mileage has dropped from just over 30 to 24-25. Once she tried to drive out of a parking lot & the engive revved to 2500 RPM's, but the car wouldn't move, nearly causing a crash. The car finally started to go, but she travelled about 3/4 mile at 10 mph with the engine revving at 2500 RPM. Last week, she got into the car, started it (revving to 1800RPM's) put it in reverse & the car wouldn't move. Finally after starting & stopping 2 times, on the third try it started working "normal". This has been going on ( engine revving to charge battery & not moving) for 4 months. It's been to the dealership 3 times, checked by the "Regional Rep" twice & they say it is normal, since no code comes up! The Regional Rep had the gall to tell me that ford has not had one instance of a failed battery. He also stated that "all batteries loose power over time", which is what is probably causing the engine to revv up, but they won't replace it unless it totally fails to hold a charge!! Obviously, reading some of the post at Edmonds, Ford has replaced some of the battery packs. Has anybody had similar problems with FORD??? The dealership did service the transmission, thinking this might be the problem...& they didn't charge me for the supposed 17+ hrs they have into it, so I guess I should be glad for that, but I'm thinking this will be the last hybrid I will ever own. (between my wife & kids, we own 9 fords so it's not like I have it in for ford....not yet anyway) Thanks...

Interestingly, just yesterday I was driving from Los Angeles to San Jose on I-5 and I had a major failure. My 2008 Escape Hybrid completely failed....I lost all electricity, power steering, brakes....everything. I safely coasted to a stop on the side of the road VERY glad that it happened around 3pm and not on the Grapevine, at night, or with my children in the car because I had no power for hazards and couldn't lock the doors. The vehicle was towed to a dealership 55 miles inland and I am awaiting the analysis. I am renting a car and will have to drive back 3 hours south to drop off the rental and pick up the Escape WHENEVER it's fixed. If this is an expensive repair (which I am expecting it to be), this will be the last Ford I purchase.

I was wondering if anyone knew if when a battery starts to die, will I have to replace the whole battery pack of just a small battery. I noticed the other day, it sat for about a day and a half. When I started it after it sitting, it hesitated a little. That is the first time it did that. I have heard the horror stories of the money I will have to put into it and unfortunately I still have 2 years left to pay on it. I have a feeling I will be stuck repairing it and am hoping to find some alternatives before "the big one" happens. Any suggestions or answers to my original question of the smaller battery?

Has anyone heard of private car repair shops dealing with this yet to try and make the cost cheaper or are we still stuck with the dealer?Thanks in advance for your help!

It just depends on the dealer. I bought a Honda van a few years ago and the dealer put motor oil in the transmission. I took it to a different Honda dealer, not understanding what the problem was, and he hesitantly told me what had taken place. It just depends on the dealership.

I would look up the dealership on some websites and see what others are saying about it before you take your car there for service. Some are great, and some are simply awful. (But be careful of 'shills' - people from the dealership or service shop that give it a great rating when the shop is not really so great...).

I buy my Hondas from the dealership with lousy service, because they are convenient and competitive. But I would not take a car there for service if there was any other alternative I could use.

I am an old guy, and I have had a lot of cars over a lot of years. Problems with automotive dealership service are not in any way unique to Honda. I also have a Pontiac and the local dealership (who now had to switch to Buick) has always done an excellent job here in Fort Myers Florida. They may charge 30% more than the private shops, but they seem to always do the job right. It just varies with the way the shop is managed - not necessarily with the brand of car.

I'm guessing that the answer is NO; that if a replacement is necessary, the entire pack has to be replaced, not one cell.

One reason is that the battery packs have a lot of inherent redundancy in them so that they can still function even with one or several cells dead. The battery electronics essentially takes a bad cell out of the circuit, which reduces the battery pack's capacity by a bit, but still allows it to function. This is to eliminate the need to replace a single cell.

Also, the voltage at places inside the battery pack is several hundred volts - deadly if you don't know what you're doing. So I suspect Honda and other hybrid makers do not want technicians used to dealing with 12V systems poking around inside a battery pack.

Yes, my 06 Civic nav sys stick (cursor controller) stopped working for every direction except one. A dealer said that was not repairable. To replace would cost about 2K! I decided to use my android phone when I need to browse around the map. Rip off.

I recently took my '08 Highlander Hybrid in for oil change and routine service at my local dealership. After inspecting the car, they told me that it needed a timing belt and water pump replacement for a cost of $795. Although I'm no expert on auto repair, this replacement seemed early for my car which only has 56k miles on it. The technician assured me that 60k was the appropriate time for this repair. Taking his word for it, I agreed to it as well as a fuel injection/throttle body emission service for $179 that was also recommended.

After returning home and checking online while the repairs were being done, I saw that Toyota doesn't recommend the timing belt replacement until 90k miles. I talked to the dealership manager about the difference in recommendations and he said that because we live in NJ that they are following "extreme conditions" suggestions which call for the earlier replacements.

I didn't buy his story and declined the emission service as well, thinking that it was bunk as well.

Has anyone else heard of this "extreme conditions" clause in timing belt replacement???

Manufacturers do often have an 'extreme conditions" rule for timing belts but my impression was that this was for extremes of heat and cold, such as 110F or minus 20F, so I would say New Jersey doesn't qualify.

Dealers tend have a different definition of "extreme", or "severe duty" than does the manufacturer. Of course, it's the dealer that's making out if drivers are manipulated into thinking they need more maintenance than what the manufacturer thinks is warranted.

Always gotta ask - who's going to profit from this recommendation? In other words - just follow the money!

A reporter is looking to interview parents who own a Chevy Cruze Eco, Toyota Prius V and/or Honda Civic Hybrid. If you are willing to share your experience with the car, please email PR@edmunds.com no later than March 10, 2012.

MODERATOR

Need help navigating? kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.

I am an owner of a 2 year 3 month old 2010 Prius Five with the ATP, Nav, pretty much everything. I sold my 2007 Prius Touring to my sister who loves the car. Neither has had a dime in repairs from normal breakdown or wear items. I purchased my first Prius despite all kinds of Gloom & Doom Warnings about expensive hybrid batteries, and costly repairs. Even Edmunds review warns about buying a Used prius and expensive repairs possible. None of that nonsense has been born out by reality. In fact in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia the Prius is probably the most prevalent Taxi Cab model in the city, and has been for a long time. In case you don't know it, Taxi fleet owners are the people most averse to paying for expensive car repairs. The proliferation of the Prius as a Taxi has happened precisely because Taxi Fleet owners know what Edmunds and others obviously do not, that the Toyota Prius is, when it comes to repairs, practically Bullet Proof. Thay almost never breakdown. And nobody uses them more harshly or runs up the mileage higher than a fleet Taxi Cab. So by all means Buy a Used Prius, they exceed 300,000 miles routinely, and the Gen 3 models (2010 0nward) have even fewer moving parts to break than the older versions of the car. Don't give a moments thought to buying a properly maintained Prius as a used car.

Is it necessary to take the Prius to Toyota dealers for regular services? If one buys a "regular" Toyota, that answer is never, be it 300K or 500K miles after. But is there any kind of service for Prius (all HSD for that matter) that is better to be done at the dealers?

I bought a 2010 Prius 3 in 2010 and now have abut 63000 miles on it. I love this car. I have had no mechanical problems except one that made itself known just past the 36 month warranty period. I noticed that my solar driven cooling fan wasn't working this summer. I thought the fan had maybe died but then I looked at the solar panel and saw that green copper corrosion caused by long term moisture infiltration had shorted out the solar panel and it was unable to produce electricity anymore. I had the Dealer look at the panel and by looking at the panel from a ladder he ascertained that the moisture infiltration had reached all the way across the panel to the rear as evidenced by the green corrosion of the wiring in the panel. Now this just didn't happen overnight, but most likely, moisture had been infiltrating the panel for several years. There was no moisture visible in the pane, just the evidence of long term corrosion throughout the panel. What I am saying is this. These panels were manufactured by an outside vendor for Toyota. If made properly, a solar panel should be hermetically sealed. Most solar panels normally have a useful life of 15 years. This panel was defective the day it was made and it just took 3 years for the corrosion to infiltrate deep enough to disable enough of the solar cells to render it inoperative. The reason I tell you this is the solar option is an expensive option.($2000 replacement cost) If you are still in your warranty period I would suggest having the panel inspected for corrosion before you experience a failure. Once you know what to look for you can examine it yourself. Much like a hermetically sealed double pane house window there will be some clouding of the glass panel where the moisture has infiltrated. In my case the infiltration appears to have been going on for years before total failure. Since it is tinted and part of the roof design you won't notice the subtle changes in the color unless you inspect the panel closely.

In conclusion, these panels should be waterproof and sealed during manufacture. If any moisture infiltrates by means other than from damage it is a design and/or manufacturing error.

Well, Just got off the phone with Toyota Corporate. Basically they told me that they will give me $750 towards my repair of $2000 for the defective solar panel on my 2010 Prius. I told them I was surprised that they weren't at least offering to supply the part and I could pay for the labor(about $350) for repair as most all other car manufacturers would have done. Even Ford has been known to do this. Sadly, It appears Toyota's customer service quality is well below Ford's.

I guess Toyota has made a corporate decision of "Buyer Beware". If Toyota installs a defective part in your new car and you don't find out until 9 days after the 3 years warranty is up it is just to bad for you. Even if it was defective before the warranty expired. Amazing! It is disappointing to see this attitude from a company I thought was known for quality and great customer service.

I asked them if I could appeal the decision and was told "No, I would have to pursue a remedy outside Toyota". In other words hire a lawyer or file in small claims court. What a craven answer.

I hope you folks don't have any problems with your Toyota after the paper warranty is up. Toyota appears not to care about or understand their customers. I t has become , in my opinion, a company run by bean counters and Lawyers.

I like my dealer and had planned on making Toyota my car of choice for the future , but after this experience I think I won't be buying any more of their cars.

Tommy, depending on how long you plan to keep the car, I would recommend you contact your credit union or Bank an see if they offer extended warranty protection contracts. I got a 48k mile 4 year extended warrant form my Credit union 3 thousand miles before my factory warranty expired. It cost me $1073 and was issued by Travelers insurance. The Toyota dealer policy was $2300 and he wanted to add it now at point of sale, 3 years before I needed it. It is a big mark up profit item for the dealer. Skip it and buy one later.